The Power of...

Mohamad Badr 'Bloody Streets; The Manifestation of Power, Nabatiyeh, Lebanon'
150 x 100 cm. Photography on Archival Paper Edition of 3 2011-2012

"The Power of...", an exhibition of photographs by the Lebanese artist Mohamad Badr, documents the observance of Ashura, the Shi'a Muslim day of mourning over the martyrdom of Husayn, the Prophet's grandson. Shi'ites mourn Husayn's death by holding processions which often feature self-flagellation. The artist depicts men having their scalps cut, beating themselves with chains, and weeping together, bloodied and bruised. The intensity and devotion we see in the faces and bodies of Badr's subjects is frightening yet, somehow, romantic. Each year on Ashura, Husayn's violent martyrdom is not merely remembered; for Shi'ites, it is as though it happened that day. This feeling comes through in Mohamad Badr's photographs, and can only be intensified by the interactive installation at Beirut's Ayyam Gallery, which features large projections of two photographs, and displays the tools (such as razor blades and chains) used by participants in the ritual. 

Imam Husayn's father, Ali, was the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad and the fourth caliph. The Sunna-Shi'a schism occurred when Muhammad's death left the Muslim community without a leader. Most Muslims wanted the community to decide on a leader; some favored a family member of the Prophet: Ali. The latter group became known as Shi'tes, or Partisans (of Ali). 

In 681 AD (61 AH), some 20 years after Ali's death, Husayn, set out for Iraq in response to his followers' invitations. Husayn and his supporters considered the rule of the new caliph, Yazid, to be illegitimate. At the beginning of the month of Muharram, Husayn and his party reached Karbala, Iraq. There, they were confronted by soldiers who barred their way. For days, Husayn negotiated with the soldiers, who offered him a choice between death and swearing loyalty to Yazid. Husayn asked for a day of reprieve so he could pray and so those of his followers who did not want to fight to the death could escape. 

On the 10th of Muharram, the soldiers resumed their attack and Husayn, his family (including his infant son), and some of his companions were violently killed. The soldiers desecrated their corpses, did not give them an Islamic burial, and treated their prisoners inhumanely. 

The importance of Ashura in Shi'i culture has served to impart a special gravity to Islamic culture; this gravity is defined by a heroic and saintly individual beset by intrigue and tragedy, on the one hand, and the noble purpose exemplified by Husayn and his companions in choosing an honorable death over worldly security, on the other... Ashura is moreover taken to symbolize the universal struggle for justice, as in the widely-used slogan: 'Every day is Ashura and every place is Karbala.' (from "Ashura," Encyclopaedia Islamic, Brill)

For more information on Ashura and the Sunna-Shi'a split, check out the following sources:

"The Sunna and Shi'a in History," Diwaniyya podcast

The Sunna and Shi'a in History: Division and Ecumenism in the Muslim Middle East, edited by Ofra Bengio and Meir Litvak (Palgrave Macmillan)

"Ashura," Encyclopaedia Islamic, Brill

"What is Ashura?," BBC News

"Ashura: The Unique Face of Shi'a Islam," Frontline, PBS

"The Partisans of Ali," NPR's five-part series on the Sunna-Shi'a split

And be sure to check out the artist Mohamad Badr's blog, as well as the Ayyam Gallery's other exhibits.